


When I'm with you

by ExplainingTheIndescribable



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 06:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5280686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplainingTheIndescribable/pseuds/ExplainingTheIndescribable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Established Cartinelli. Peggy is clueless about proposing, so Jarvis tries to help, but... well, things don’t quite go to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When I'm with you

“Will you marry me?”  
Jarvis walked by the living room on his way to get a glass of milk when he saw her. It appeared Peggy had finally lost it. She was down on one knee, offering an invisible ring to an invisible person, alone in the middle of the living room, at 3am.  
“May I be of assistance, Miss Carter? Perhaps some medication?”  
Peggy gave up even standing and flopped onto the floor.  
“Oh do shut up. You know this is for Angie.” She dramatically put her arm over her eyes “But it just doesn’t feel right. And I can’t fathom why”  
“Might I suggest attempting something a bit more romantic? Scenery outside the living room, perhaps?”  
“You think I haven’t tried? I don’t know why I bother with you. I truly don’t.”  
For comrades, they really did argue like an old married couple.  
“And what, exactly, have you attempted?”  
“I took her to her favourite restaurant and that show she wanted to see for ages, you know the one”  
After a moment’s silence, Jarvis prompted  
“And then?”  
“And then nothing. We walked home, and went to bed.” She sighed heavily and rolled onto her stomach to face her friend.  
“But you had a good time?”  
“It was wonderful”  
“Then what’s preventing you?”  
“There wasn’t a good moment. There never is!”  
“I see” He paused, deliberating, for a moment. “Come with me” He turned and went towards the kitchen. He wanted his milk first, it was going to be a longer night than he'd planned,  
“Mr Jarvis?”  
He popped his head back around the corner at her questioning tone  
“We’re going to plan the perfect proposal for you and Miss Martinelli”  
“I’m not sure that’s-“  
“Nonsense.”  
And so, Peggy and Jarvis spent a good hour planning the perfect proposal and making one specific phone call. Now, she only had to set the next wheel in motion at a more decent time in the morning.  
Getting up before Angie, she went to check the mail and see if her late night call to the newspapers had paid off. But there was no newspaper. Dammit. There was the usual flyer and the card for a taxi company, but that was it. That and a small letter, addressed to Peggy.  
Entirely too curious to wait, she tore the envelope open, only to find a riddle inside.  
‘The only place you can see the most astounding woman in the world’  
Peggy flipped over the scrap of paper, but there was nothing on the other side. If anything, opening the letter had provoked more questions than it answered, so she decided to play along. There was nothing she disliked more than an unsolved mystery. And evil tyrants who threaten equality and democracy. But mainly unsolved mysteries.  
Well, the most astounding woman in the world was clearly Angie, and there was a small chance Angie would have some idea of who was behind the note, so she returned to the bedroom. Any thought of the newspaper was completely gone from her mind.  
Her love was still sleeping soundly, and Peggy just didn’t have the heart to wake her. It was only 6.30am and it was still dark outside. Sighing, but determined to be patient and let Angie enjoy her beauty sleep, Peggy sat down on the bed.  
It was from there that she noticed another, identical, small letter, propped up against the mirror over their vanity. Well, Stark’s vanity technically. But who were they kidding.  
Without hesitation, she got up took the letter from its place and tore it open.  
I lead to a land where only ghosties hide amongst the things we can’t abide  
What on Earth, does that mean?  
Logically, ghosts hide under the bed. Or in the wardrobe. But neither of them particularly hated anything in that vicinity.. still... Peggy searched through every wardrobe and under every bed in the house, but to no avail.  
She sat down on the top of the stairs. Where else would there be ghosts? The cellar?  
She didn’t know if there was a cellar, but she figured no was as good a time as any to check it out.  
Nope, it wasn’t in the cellar. There was just wine and some other curious things Peggy did not investigate too much. She had a goal.  
She was so focused, that she didn’t remember that the door to the cellar was narrow, and hit her head on the top frame.  
Her swearing was rather creative for that time in the morning.  
She looked up at the offending bit of wood and scowled, before the brightest smile lit her face as she focused on what was beyond the frame.  
The latch to the attic, with a small envelope dangling from the handle by a string.  
Three and a half minutes later, she was standing quite precariously on top of a rickety ladder, stretching as far as she could to reach the letter.  
How on earth anyone else had got up there at all, let alone high enough to a tie a letter, she just did not know.  
She finally managed to grab the letter from its place in a heroic leap off the ladder. She would’ve broken her neck on the way down, but thankfully tuck and roll was essentially an instinct to her.  
She wanted nothing more at that moment than to rip this letter open too, but was stopped by the sudden trilling of the phone in the living room.  
“Carter”  
“We need you in the office”  
The person on the other end hung up before she had the chance to ask why. And how they had gotten her phone number in the first place. Damn phone company.  
She left a note for Angie, letting her know she had left for work early and would try to be home early because of it, kissed her sleeping beauty on the cheek, and was out the door.  
The chain of letters were in the corner of her mind all day.  
When she was finally ready to go home, she found Angie waiting for her in the phone company reception with just one lily.  
Peggy smiled, her day had suddenly got a whole lot brighter.  
“You didn’t have to”  
“I’m allowed to try and cheer you up. They don’t appreciate you enough, and I want to make sure you know that I do. Appreciate you I mean”  
It was the little things like that simple, sweet gesture that had made Peggy fall for Angie in the first place. Little, thoughtful things, that meant the absolute world to the woman who couldn’t let her guard down with anyone. Well, with anyone else.  
Angie wanted to walk around with Peggy for a bit before they headed home, just to walk and talk, and so they did.  
On the way Angie spotted a caricaturist and instantly tugged on Peggy’’s sleeve  
“Oh please oh please oh pleeease can we get one done?”  
When her eyes shone that brightly, Peggy could do little more than remember to breath, much less process and respond to a request.  
And that’s how she ended up posing with Angie for a drawing in the middle of 42nd street.  
When he was done, Angie conversed with him shortly, before thanking him and linking Peggy’s arm, carrying the picture in front so they could both admire it.  
“Isn’t it swell?”  
“You look as gorgeous as ever my darling”  
“Ah shut up English. You talk too much.”  
Angie grinned, and then Peggy looked closer at the picture.  
The sky was coloured in half pencil and half pen. Well that was strange.  
She commented to Angie, but she said it was probably some new artistic fad and they carried on their way.  
Angie even stopped by the shops on the way home to get the ingredients for Peggy’s favourite dishes on the way home  
“As a thank you, for posing for the sketch with me”  
“You really don’t-“  
Angie knew Peggy well enough to know arguing with her was, for the most part, a futile effort, so she kissed her instead.  
“Angie!”  
they were standing in the middle of the pasta section at the greengrocer’s. Angie simply giggled and looked around almost furtively.  
“No-one saw!”  
“That’s not the point...”  
“Aw English, you’re not ashamed of me are ya?”  
Peggy turned serious for an entirely different reason in an instant  
“Angie, I could not be prouder to be seen with anyone else in public. You are the most amazing person I’ve ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with...”  
“Ah shush English, you’re gonna make a girl blush saying things like that”  
“...however, if your father sees us and stones us to death? Not my idea of fun Ange”  
“Alright, alright. I’ll save being a bad girl for the bedroom...” She started walking away ever so casually, but couldn’t resist a quick glance behind her, and saw Peggy was frozen and the shade of beetroot.  
When they eventually made it home, Angie set a glass of wine down in front of Peggy, so she could sit at the counter and not get in Angie’s way while she cooked.  
Peggy merely saluted and did as she was told. You just didn’t mess with an Italian in the kitchen.  
“Nero D'Avola... my favourite”  
“Oh, it is?” Angie smirked to herself as she added a tad more basil to the sauce.  
After a moment, Peggy leapt up from her chair with not more than a quick “Sorry Angie, I’ll be right back” and went to find her handbag. And that damned letter from this morning.  
‘Opposites attract’  
Peggy wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that one either. She took the letter with her, back into the kitchen and sat back on her stool, registering Angie’s absence and assuming she had just nipped away for something.  
Wait...Magnets?  
She glanced up at the fridge, and sure enough, there was another small envelope.  
Except this time, there was no bit of parchment inside, simply a dandelion plucked from their garden no doubt.  
Twisting the stem between her thumb and forefinger, she went towards the back of the house.  
Opening the door, she stepped out into the garden, without the hassle of putting shoes on, and looked for whatever was next on this strange little quest.  
Instead, she found Angie standing by kitchen window. She had also moved the gramophone to the countertop, so she could easily reach in and lift the pin to the turntable  
Someone To Watch Over Me started playing, and Angie offered Peggy her hand. This is their song after all.  
Peggy looks at her questioningly for a moment before taking the hand, and joining Angie in a slow dance  
“I felt like dancin’”  
Peggy kisses her softly  
“Are you aware of how adorable you are or should I keep reminding you?”  
Angie grinned “A lil reminder doesn’t hurt once in a while...”  
And they continue this way, bodies pressed close together, eyes closed, lips less than a breath apart, until the song comes to an end. All too soon, in Peggy’s opinion.  
Standing there without the music playing, looking at Angie, she suddenly remembers the newspaper from this morning. She has to get it now, it’s not too late, but it will be by tomorrow.  
If Angie is surprised by Peggy’s sudden desire to rush off, she doesn’t show it. For a moment Peggy supposes it’s because she got used to Peggy needing to rush off sometimes. It was part of her job description.  
But when Peggy turns back in the doorway to make sure, Angie simply blows her a kiss. Peggy catches it and is on her way again. She will buy a newspaper today and deliver it to Angie if it kills her.  
Angie realises a moment later, that dinner’s still cooking “You’ve got 45 minutes English!” she hollers  
“I’ll see you in 44!” comes the cheeky reply  
Angie’s still wearing her waitress uniform, so she decides it is the perfect time to change and finish organising the final touches while Peggy goes off on her errand.  
She was dressed, and just putting the finishing touches on the bedroom ceiling when she heard the front door open and shut swiftly downstairs.  
She heart thumped a little louder, but then, Peggy usually tended to have that affect on her anyway.  
“Angie?”  
It was gone eight, and yet none of the lights were on, nor would they turn on  
“I’m here” She stood at the top of the stairs “Wait just one second”  
She felt around and found the matches she was looking for.  
“Close your eyes”  
“What?”  
“Go on”  
“Angie...”  
“English.”  
Angie had her serious voice on, and Peggy relented.  
Angie led Peggy into the dining room, and lit the candles spread around the table between all the plates holding Peggy’s favourite dishes.  
“Open”  
Peggy opened her eyes, to see a fabulous feast set out in front of them. The amount of time and prep that had to have gone into that... A banquet of wonderful things made for two, by the person who was already her favourite in the entire world. It all took her breath away.  
“Oh Angie...”  
She turned, to show Angie who grateful she was, and stopped dead.  
Angie was wearing a dazzling sapphire coloured dress that accentuated all her curves, and dipped low in just the right places. The dress sparkled, glittering in the candlelight, giving her the appearance of an ethereal being. Or perhaps even a fairy godmother. Peggy certainly felt like she was tonight. Although she wasn’t sure, because in no fairy tale she had ever read did the princess want to tear the dress off the fairy and take her there and then.  
Wanting to get started and get Peggy out of her current daze, Angie held a chair out for her.  
Peggy was in no state to do anything other than accept.  
Once she recovered, they talked, and complimented each other, Peggy on Angie’s attire and cooking, and Angie on Peggy’s adorable response to said attire and cooking. The night progressed steadily, until the wine was drunk, plates were cleared, and a little sleepiness was starting to creep up on them.  
“Thank you” Peggy tried not to stumble as she walked behind Angie through the dimly lit living room. “It was wonderful... it was all, so wonderful”  
She wasn’t that drunk. more intoxicated on emotion rather than anything else.  
“My pleasure... but hey, I should warn you. The night’s not over yet.”  
Angie put Peggy’s hand on something thin and silky attached to the banister.  
“Wait there.... there we go” Angie lit a soft lamp, so neither would trip on the stairs  
“Follow the ribbon, I’ll meet you upstairs” Peggy smiled, and tugged her in for one last kiss before Angie left. Her voice was definitely huskier than it had been at the dinner table.  
With her tempting seductress now no longer at her side, Peggy noticed properly the red ribbon she was holding. She ran her fingers along it until they hit a small picture. It was their first meet up outside the diner... Peggy had invited Angie to the park one day for lunch, to get them both out of work and enjoying the sunshine. The picture had turned out beautifully, they were both sat among flowers completely relaxed, smiling softly at the camera. The next item on the ribbon was a piece of parchment... a torn out page of Angie’s diary, it seemed, the one thing Angie wanted to keep her own, private space. And Peggy would not begrudge her that.  
‘We had our first kiss today... I never thought one kiss could be so intense! I felt more in those three second that I ever did with a boy. Even with all the boy’s combined! Maybe she’s just a really good kisser, and it’s no bad thing that’s she’s also gorgeous and amazing and her lips are so soft...’  
The entry continued in a similar fashion in Angie’s small, neat script, on both sides of the page.  
Peggy was grinning from beginning to end. It had been a wonderful night.... a friend’s birthday no less, and they had somehow ended up completely wrapped up in each other.  
The first of what would become many nights spent that way, each a happy memory.  
As she continued following the ribbon up the stairs, each item attached to it was another memory of their time together until Peggy reached the top and felt her emotions brimming too close to the surface  
She was irretrievably in love with Angie.  
She had said as much to her, and heard it in return, but never had she felt it so much as she did in that moment, staring at a few items which symbolised the best parts of her life since she’d met Angie. And each of those moments included her.  
She wiped the tears starting to trickle down her cheeks, feeling daft that a bunch of memories could reduce the strong, invincible, Peggy Carter to crying at the top of a stairway.  
Angie heard her snuffles, and took her into a hug from behind  
“I didn’t mean to make you cry English”  
“No... no Angie, these are happy tears.” brown eyes met blue and the smile she gave her love was entirely real “all of these moments, are perfect. My life, is perfect, now.” the end of that sentence ‘that I have you’ hung in the air. All she could manage was a simple three words  
“I love you”  
“I love you too English”  
Angie held her tightly once more, before wiping away the last tear, and taking her hand and leading her into their bedroom.  
The darkness was chased away by yet more candlelight. Angie had pulled out all the stops to make this night special.  
“Angie, wait”  
This was the moment  
“What’s up Pegs?”  
She sighed at the thought that she still hadn’t been able to find today’s edition of the newspaper anywhere.  
“I-“  
“Wait” Angie held a finger to red lips “Before you say anything...”  
Angie gestured to the bed. Rose petals were strewn across the covers.  
“Lie with me”  
Peggy nodded, and settled herself down.  
As soon as her head hit the pillow, she saw it.  
The words ‘Will you marry me?’ were written across the ceiling in glow-in-the-dark letters.  
Peggy turned to look at Angie, and found her kneeling by the side of the bed with a ring in her hands  
She had put the caricaturists drawing on the bed next to her, with the pencil bits rubbed out. All that remained in pen was the two of them, and two tickboxes that said ‘yes’ and ‘no’.  
Angie took a deep breath and tried to steel her nerves. She could do this in front of a crowd on a stage, no big deal. but this.... she summoned all her courage.  
“Margaret Carter, Peggy, will you do me the greatest honour, of becoming my wife?”  
Peggy could only nod and she got off the bed and knelt down next to Angie  
“Yes. In every life time, for as long as you’ll have me, yes.”  
Now tear tracks were forming on Angie’s cheeks, and Peggy brushed them away with the pad of her thumb before she leant in to kiss her partner for life, Angie Carter-Martinelli.

Three weeks later  
“I mean organising the treasure trail was the easy part. Finding all those pictures and things for the ribbon? That took forever! But it was worth it, to be perfect” Angie grinned  
“And it was, my darling”  
Jarvis looked away “So how exactly did she propose if I might be so bold?”  
“She did everything... she sent me on a quest, bought me a flower, picked me up from work, made all my favourite things to eat, got my favourite wine, made a collection of all our favourite moments, dressed like she was all my Christmas and birthday presents rolled in to one....”  
“Danced to our song, got a special drawing done of us, proposed using glow-in-the-dark words...”  
Angie carried on semi-teasingly  
“And it was all perfect”  
“Excellent. After all that extensive planning, I’m glad it worked out Miss Martinelli! Even though she didn’t get to experience your own proposal...”  
“Carter-Martinelli now”  
“My apologies; Miss Carter-Martinelli”  
“Yes, I never did manage to find a copy of the newspaper with the page I hired for you.” There was a moment’s paused "Wait” Peggy looked between them “You’re not surprised by any of this, are you Mr Jarvis?”  
He paused, and rubbed his ear “I merely hide it well, Miss Carter-Martinellii”  
Peggy looked at him and Angie disbelievingly, before settling on the former.  
“You knew what Angie was planning?!”  
“I did”  
“Mr Jarvis-“  
“Which is why I stole your newspaper the morning before it was delivered. As much as I'm sure the former Miss Martinelli would have appreciated your proposal on the front page of the papers, it would rather have spoiled the surprise. Now Miss Carter-Martinelli, I believe your fiancé would rather be, ahem, with you, rather than having this conversation”  
Peggy contemplated her options for a moment. “This conversation isn’t over Mr Jarvis”  
“I assumed as much, Miss Carter-Martinelli. Good day to you”  
He walked briskly out of the door, intending to stay away from that household for the foreseeable future. He already knew she wasn’t fond of deception. Even if it was necessary and utterly, heart-warmingly romantic.  
He needn’t have worried.  
Peggy forgot anyone else existed in the following three days. The world could have fallen to pieces outside the bedroom and neither her, nor Angie, would have been any the wiser.  
They left the room once to get sustenance when Peggy insisted Angie eat something. At Angie’s purely seductive response, Peggy insisted that that something had to also have ‘nutritional value’, as she turned a delightful shade of pink.  
Angie grinned, went down for cereal, and ended up coming back with whipped cream and strawberries instead.  
“Guess what I found in the fridge... Mr Fancy really thinks of everything huh?”  
“Instead of thinking about that, I can think of some uses for those items I think you’ll like....”  
Angie pretended to look shocked, but she soon gave it up. Peggy’s lips were irresistible. Not to mention she was lying on the bed far too seductively for anything else to really matter.


End file.
